Islamabad
Amid a declining economy, Pakistan’s oil and eatable import bills surged by 59.98 per cent to USD 21.87 billion in the July-March period, local media reported.
Last year, in the corresponding period, the import bill surged to USD 13.67 billion owing to higher international prices and massive depreciation of the Pakistani Rupee.
The country’s overall import bill spiked by 49.10 per cent to USD 58.87 billion in the nine months ending September 2021 (9MFY22) against the USD 39.48 billion in the same month last year.
The shares of these products in the total import bill also jumped to 37.14 per cent in 9MFY22. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data, the import bill of oil increased by over 96.09per cent to USD14.81 billion in 9MFY22 from USD 7.55 billion over the corresponding months of last year.
The steady increase in import bills of these two sectors is triggering a trade deficit in the country and also poses a threat of creating pressure on the external side of the government.
Not only oil, but the Crude oil imports rose by 82.25 per cent in value and 3.50 per cent in quantity during the period under review while those of liquefied natural gas increased by 91.78 per cent in value.
Liquefied petroleum gas imports also rose by 46.32pc in value in 9MFY22.
The food import bill rose by over 15.46pc to USD 7.06bn in 9MFY22 from USD 6.12bn over the corresponding period last year to bridge the gap in food production.
